XPost: oc.general, alt.california, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.fraud   
   From: jbb@moonbeams.gov.ca   
      
   A lawsuit against San Clemente seeks to force local government   
   to refund more than $9 million in beach-parking impact fees and   
   interest that the city is holding after collecting fees over the   
   last 23 years from homes built in parts of town outside the   
   state-designated coastal zone.   
      
   In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court,   
   Brad Malamud says the beach parking fund has not produced any   
   new parking for San Clemente's beaches. He said the money just   
   sits in a fund, except for some funds he says the city spent   
   improperly on parking studies and some the city spent to help   
   buy a piece of land for beach parking. The parcel that the city   
   purchased in 1994 at 1832 N. El Camino remains vacant, Malamud   
   said.   
      
   City Manager George Scarborough could not be reached for comment   
   Wednesday, after city business hours. Nor could City Attorney   
   Jeff Goldfarb or Mayor Jim Evert.   
      
   "I didn't want to bring a lawsuit," Malamud said late Wednesday   
   afternoon. "I wanted to work behind the scenes to work it out."   
      
   In May he appeared before the City Council, presenting his case   
   and asking the council to order refunds. City Attorney Jeff   
   Goldfarb said, at the time, that he would have to look into the   
   assertions. Malamud said this week that he continued to press   
   for answers until, in June, he received a letter from the city   
   stating that the city "is not currently obligated to refund any   
   money in the Beach Parking Impact Fee account."   
      
   The lawsuit names two property owners – Daniel Walker and Justin   
   McCarthy – as plaintiffs against the city. The City Council   
   enacted the fee in 1989 on the basis that homes built outside   
   the California coastal zone would pay to mitigate an added   
   demand for beach parking that the new homes' residents would   
   create.   
      
   The suit asserts that "the anticipated need never arose and,   
   notwithstanding the fact that the city may not lawfully use the   
   funds for any purpose other than a refund, the city has failed   
   to return these impact fees to the property owners that are   
   entitled to them."   
      
   The suit estimates that the fund, with accumulated interest, now   
   holds $9.7 million. Besides a refund, the lawsuit calls for a   
   return of $337,280 that the city purportedly spent from the   
   beach-parking fund to pay 70 percent of the purchase price of   
   the parcel at 1832 N. El Camino Real.   
      
   Malamud estimated the parcel's current fair-market value at $2   
   million and said that 70 percent of the fair-market value should   
   be returned to the beach-parking fund to cover 17 years that the   
   lot has sat with no parking paved and striped onto it.   
      
   The fee started out at $1,500 per home and was reduced in 1996   
   to $750 plus inflationary increases, Malamud said. It could be   
   back above $1,000 now, Malamud said. "We don't know how many   
   lots there were," he added. The suit says "over 5,200 lots" but   
   Malamud said it could be well over that. The fund also has been   
   accruing interest for 23 years, he said.   
      
   http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-368716-parking-malamud.html   
      
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